Kovachik appears in court for theft case

BOARDMAN — Linda Kovachik, 69, of Boardman appeared in the Mahoning Country Area Court here before Judge Joseph Houser this morning for a bond hearing.

Her bond was set at $35,000. Kovachik will await the next preliminary hearing at 9:30 p.m. Aug. 2 at Mahoning County Area Court here before Judge Joseph Houser.

The former congressional aide to the late James A. Traficant Jr. Was charged with the theft of more than $100,000 from an elderly Canfield woman with dementia.

Kovachik, according to a police report, befriended the 89-year-old victim in 2013 and offered to manage her finances, eventually taking advantage of her bank accounts, savings bonds and annuities.